A controller mapping in Mixxx is a JavaScript file. Not a table of button-to-command pairs, but real code. One pad can perform a series of actions, test the state of a deck to determine what to do, or act differently based on the mode the controller is in. If you have a device that hasn’t been mapped before, you write the file. If a bundled mapping puts a function on the wrong knob, you open the mapping and move it.
There are about 90 controllers with a mapping that loads automatically. They include Pioneer, Numark, Hercules, Denon and Allen & Heath units. Just plug one in and it works.
Any MIDI or HID device can join them by hand.
There is another type of control surface, though. Timecode records and CDs carry a signal that Mixxx reads as position and speed. Your turntables and CDJs drive digital files through it, and a file can be scratched just like a pressed record. The gear remains the gear; it is just what it is playing that changes.
THE PART THAT WORKS LIKE EVERY OTHER DJ PROGRAM
Four decks. Sixty-four sampler decks layer one-shots over the mix. BPM and key are found during analysis. Sync Lock syncs tempo and beat position between the decks, keylock maintains pitch when tempo changes, and hot cues let you set jump points.
Three things go just a bit further. A saved loop can be placed in a hot cue slot, so one pad recalls a loop, not a point. A beat loop anchor helps position loop edges precisely. And an incorrect tempo reading can be undone rather than corrected by hand.
Effects cascade, and a chain retains its parameter values and knob mappings when saved. Map a Super Knob across it and the entire chain responds to a single knob. Parameters reorder, or hide. On macOS, AU plug-ins load together with the built-in effects, which include a compressor and a glitch unit.
It comes with four skins, each with a layout that can be altered.
WHAT YOU BRING IN
iTunes, Traktor, Serato and Rekordbox libraries open directly, meaning a collection created elsewhere is imported intact. MusicBrainz fills tags that are missing. Sets are stored in crates, and smart playlists collect tracks by BPM, key or any other metadata.
ReplayGain balances volume between tracks: Mixxx uses the tags where they are present and analyses the tracks where they are not.
There is a limit: streaming services and cloud collections do not link up, so the music must reside on a drive you control.
Auto DJ fills the gap when you step away, playing a playlist and crossfading through it.
WHAT LEAVES
An effect chain is exported to a file and imported on another machine, including its parameters.
Crates, playlists and the entire library can be exported to Engine DJ OS devices. Prepare the set on a laptop, take it on a USB stick, and play it from a standalone Denon or Numark controller that never touches Mixxx.
Mixes record to WAV, FLAC or Ogg Vorbis, and the recordings are added to the library as tracks. MP3 recording depends on the LAME library, which installs separately because of how that format is licensed.
The mix goes out live to a Shoutcast or Icecast server. A microphone goes in, or a guitar, and talkover brings the music down underneath whichever one you are using.
